This invention relates generally to conveyance of information and more particularly to controlling the release of time sensitive information.
Conveyance of data between parties is known. Such conveyance may be done over wireline transmission paths such as telephone lines, the Internet, etc., and done between data devices such as facsimile machines, computers, etc. Additionally, conveyance of information may be done over wireless transmission paths between wireless communication devices such as portable radios, portable computers that include an RF transceiver, personal digital assistance (PDA), etc. The information conveyed between parties, whether over a wireless communication path or wire line communication path, may be transmitted in a secure manner utilizing encryption and decryption algorithms or may be transmitted in clear text.
For secured conveyances of data, the sending party encrypts the data using an encryption algorithm and a particular key. The key may be a public encryption key of the intended recipient or a unique key for this particular communication. Having encrypted the information, the sending party transmits the encrypted data along with an indication of the particular key to the recipient party. Upon receiving the encrypted data, the recipient obtains, or recaptures, the key and subsequently decrypts the data.
If such data, whether in clear text or in a secured manner, is transmitted to multiple parties, each of the receiving parties may receive the data at different times. For example, if a company is releasing internal information as to a reorganization, the employees at the corporate headquarters, where the message was originated, would most likely receive the message considerably sooner than employees stationed in other parts of the country and/or world. Such information could be considered to be time-sensitive if the releasing party wants the recipients to have access to the data at the same future time.
Currently, if the releasing party is releasing time-sensitive information, the releasing party has to rely on the recipients to access the information only when requested to do so. In other words, the releasing parties has to rely on the integrity of the recipients not to access the information before requested. While most people would honor the request, some would not. Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that provides the releasing party with automatic control over the releasing of time-sensitive information.